Serafina and the Twisted Staff is the second book in author Robert Beatty’s Serafina series, about a mysterious young girl who secretly lived at the Biltmore Estate. The series is set back in time in 1899 in North Carolina, but this story has a timeless feel to it. In fact, I often forget that it’s a historical fiction […]

It’s been awhile since I read the first novel in Ann Aguirre’s Razorland trilogy, Enclave. However, it didn’t take long for me to get back into this series. The second novel, Outpost, reveals how life has changed for Deuce, Fade, and Stalker since they were taken into the town Salvation. A town at peace, most of the women cater to […]

“You don’t have to be perfect to be good. You can do bad things and still be a good person.” The final book in Alexander Gordon Smith’s Escape From Furnace series, Execution, finally brings Alex Sawyer and his friends face-to-face with Alfred Furnace. It’s taken five books for Alex to have this confrontation, and though enjoyable I found it […]

“What we think to be our greatest weakness can sometimes be our biggest strength.” The conclusion of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses tied many threads together while leaving some dangling. The novel picks up right after the events of the previous novel, with Feyre back at the Spring Court. As war looms, Feyre must […]

“There was only Furnace. It was our world, our grave, our hell.” Book two in Alexander Gordon Smith’s Escape From Furnace series, Solitary, picks up immediately following the events of the first book. Alex and his friends have made their escape from Furnace Penitentiary, only to discover they’ve traveled deeper underground with no idea how to get to […]

The Dark Prophecy is the second book in Rick Riordan’s Trials of Apollo series, which is a spin-off of his popular Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. This novel picks up weeks after the events in the first book. The god Apollo is still trapped in a mortal body and must continue his quest with Leo and Calypso to stop […]

“I’d been so set on an escape that was now impossible, and the only form of freedom left to me was death. It was a terrible kind of freedom—one from misery and pain, yes, but also one from lightness and laughter and life. It was an absence of everything.” I first came across Alexander Gordon […]

“Our character isn’t defined by the battles we win or lose, but by the battles we dare to fight.” When our school hosted a Scholastic Book Fair, I decided to help out by making a purchase. What I bought was Serafina and the Black Cloak and its sequel. I had seen this book around but never checked it […]

“As I’m sure you know, a good night’s sleep helps you perform well in school, and so if you are a student you should always get a good night’s sleep unless you have come to the good part of your book, and then you should stay up all night and let your schoolwork fall by […]

“The bodies in my floor all trusted someone. Now I walk on them to tea.” The above quote pretty much sums up the cutthroat world in V. E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic. The story is a fantasy set in London, but not just one London, but several. There’s our London set during the reign of King […]